Articles in this Legacy section are some of the more popular articles from the original website. We have tried to recreate them as close to the original format as possible, but given that most of the articles were written between 2002 and 2005, we do not have all the images that appeared on the original website.

Thoughts and Ideas behind the design of Line arrays.

This article was written in about 2005. It was to provide additional information to an ongoing discussion on the Harmony Central web forum, taking place at the time, concerning the feasibility of a DIY line array. It generated more enquiries than all the other articles combined and was also the most linked to article.

It has since been copied and appeared on a few commercial websites presented as their own technical white papers. This is the original source.

Since setting up this web site I've had requests for information about designing line array loudspeakers. This page is to explain some of my thoughts on the topic. If you still have any questions or want to discus further thoughts and issues feel free to contact me. The idea of this page is to give some of my thoughts on what I have been asked. If you don't agree that is fine by me. Please remember that this is not a theoretical text and that I've tried to keep the maths to a minimum. The concepts are more rule of thumb than accurate formula.

Accidental Line Array

Introduction.

At the start of the twenty-first century the "in" design for sound reinforcement systems is the line array. After a slow start, all the major manufacturers have got their own variation on the theme which of course confers some advantage over their rival's systems with no disadvantage The main selling point for all these systems is their ability to approximate a true theoretical line source that radiates cylindrically rather than spherically. This reduces the rate of level reduction for each doubling of distance, as one moves away from the array, from 6dB to 3dB, greatly improving the "throw" of a system in large venues. Not to be outdone, I designed my own line array loudspeaker back in 1995 albeit for very different reasons. At the time I was unaware of any major manufacturer producing similar designs and it wasn't until I became internet enabled a few years ago that I became aware of the success of the Vdosc system and the subsequent development of similar systems by the other manufacturers.

The idea for the design originated from when I was working as one of the house sound engineers at a local venue. The installed system was beginning to show signs of its age and the owner asked me to think about what might be a suitable replacement. I thus thought about it and also the possibility that I might be able to design and install one of my own systems. Not long afterwards, the venue closed because the owners of the building sold it and the new owners wanted to use it for their own purpose rather than lease it. So apart from a couple of prototypes my design got no further.